I'm a Libertarian living in Humboldt County, CA. I've lived here in Eureka since 1973 and joined the Libertarian Party in 1992. This blog will mostly focus on local political issues, but I may stray into state and national issues as well, when I can't help myself. Please post your comments by clicking on the "comments" link at the bottom of each post. Although I do moderate comments, you need not be a registered user to post them.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Quiz: Who Are You Afraid Of?

Cute piece from Reason magazine that asks who you fear most: the drug user, or those who want to arrest them?

6 Comments:

Too easy Fred....of course those who want to arrest BECAUSE PARTLY the facts are that the badgers are not the only ones involved. Typically, the elitist snobbish types in the private sector that would otherwise wear white cloaks and hoodies with two eyelit holes cut-out......ya see Fred, there is a growing number of people in society that accept fear based power and control to force the masses underneath the umbrella of those who enjoy telling everyone else HOW TO LIVE AND FOR WHY. Yes, normal everyday people are to fear because more and more, everydayers are minions to everything negative caused by humanoid politics, even drugs. It is like that nice "appearing guy" that heads the MCSD (as a General Manager) in Mack Town whom likes to pull nice looking faces and smile, but in reality, politically attacks certain individuals in the MCSD's jurisidiction while using his public employment positions for power to control. The dispute falls upon public employees "inventing fake documents and processes", lying and making stuff-up to fit the "now needs" (ever since Tom Marking was forced out, the new General Manager has been losing the MCSD revenues; so apparsantly, it was a "green light" to go after people in the community to shut their accounts in order to get more money in the forms of water deposits, sewer deposits, more fees, penalties, etc..... WHY? This is how public employees try to get money when grants don't work out or when sales tax returns don't work out, etc.... HOJ has been abused by local government employees enough so that "public employee insiders must continue there abuses upon HOJ in order to silence HOJ".....as if that is gonna work! - HOJ

No question. I fear drug users. They are dramatically more likely to negatively impact my life through petty crime... breaking my car window, or rifling through my backyard, or entering my home to steal... and those are the softest crimes they're known for. And it's not as if the drugs they use are are expensive. Legalizing drugs will create space in our jails for those previously incarcerated for drug-use, but it won't even make a dent in their crimes against law-abiding citizens to pay for their addictions.

Cops? It would be an incredibly rare fluke to be a victim of abuse by a police officer. Sure it happens, and sure people get struck by lightning. I'm far more likely to get a speeding ticket, or conversely, receive an officer's help when my vehicle is disabled.

I haven't had any experience with "drug users", whatever those are when just about everyone uses drugs of some type or another, pulling guns and tazers on me. I have had those experiences with police and I could have been shot by them in four different incidences, no, five different incidences where police mistook me for a violent criminal and pulled their guns on me. Five incidences in one citizen's life where I've never been convicted of anything more dangerous than going over the speed limit. Police are using terrorist tactics instead of community communication to deal with crime. And we let them do it. In fact, our society is set up to let police and the courts use terrorism to punish Americans who are poor for being poor which often lands them in trouble with the law. Outside, the police use guns and tasers to terrorize their victims. In the courts, judges use economic terrorism to hurt poor people even more by slapping heavy fines on them and jail sentences for those who resist police and court sanctioned terrorism.

Stephen, if you've had 5 fluke police abuse incidents in your life, maybe you should the possibility there's something deeper going on in your life than police being evil. In short, I don't police as nearly as bad as you seem to suggest.

Maybe you should get out more, anonymous, and talk to counterculture people like me. First time I was chased by cops with guns was in the 2nd Love In in 1966 in Los Angeles. One person was shot if memory serves. 2nd time was being thrown up against a wall on Sunset Strip by cops with guns out because I looked like a suspect they were chasing. 3rd time was being chased by cops with automatic weapons during a pot bust in 1978. 4th time was a cop starting to pull his gun when I got lippy about his illegal traffic stop trying to cite me for helping a person with a stuck car--I went to court and won that case. 5th time the Ferndale cop pictured in the NCJ article on cops a few weeks back pulled his taser on me when again I refused to abide an illegal traffic bust. 10 miles over the speed limit of 25 on a street with no traffic except me and the cop. Went to court 6 times on that one. Cost the County thousands of dollars trying to prosecute me for resisting arrest and they couldn't make their case. I watched the judge hand out huge fines to all the poor defendants as well as maximum sentences. If you're poor or give cops any resistance you're not safe in Humboldt County or probably anywhere in America now. Cops have gained far too much power to hurt citizens by use of terror. Same for the courts using economic terror against the poor.